What do you think?
Rate this book
My Body Is A Temple: Yoga As a Path to Wholeness
The body as a temple is a common metaphor within many spiritual traditions. In this book, author and yoga teacher Christina Sell delves into the "how" and "why" of this widely accepted comparison. With the freshness of a memoir, she uses her first visit to an extraordinary temple in southern India as a structure upon which to build a treatment of basic yoga principles. Beyond the ordinary aims of yoga as a means of stretching and strengthening, or even for being happier or more centered, My Body is a Temple is an instruction manual for dedicating oneself to a life of the spirit, in and through the vehicle of the human body.
The temple of the Indian saint Yogi Ramsuratkumar (1918-2001) was still under construction when Christina entered for the first time in 2004. Yet, within it, she felt a deep peace, happiness and connection to ultimate "Sanctuary" within herself. Her own body was experienced as a receptacle for the saint's grace and an artifact of the Presence of God. "Could a life of yogic practice help me to abide more constantly at the shrine of my own heart?" she asked herself upon returning home. "Do the forms of yoga practice contain the necessary building blocks to construct a life that is a sanctuary, and a body that is a temple?" This book answers those questions.
Students of yoga will appreciate that this metaphor embodies high ideals. The author argues that aiming toward this higher sphere elevates one's life, "unsticking" us from habitual, ordinary mind. Instead of simply performing the yogic postures (asanas) physically, she explains how to use exercise as prayer, affirmation, and an expression of Remembrance.
My Body Is a Temple will encourage readers to listen to and honor the body; to enter more fully into their lives as they are, here and now; to see that each moment contains a Divine blueprint for success; and to reclaim the bricks, mortar, raw materials and energy, always already present, to build a great temple that provides refuge and sanctuary for thenselves, and inspiration for others.
While the author's tradition is that of Anusara Yoga, the book is written for any hatha yoga aspirant or practitioner. It stands for traditional practices and ideals, without being rigid. My Body Is a Temple is a vital and realistic treatment about the process of human change and transformation.
The temple of the Indian saint Yogi Ramsuratkumar (1918-2001) was still under construction when Christina entered for the first time in 2004. Yet, within it, she felt a deep peace, happiness and connection to ultimate "Sanctuary" within herself. Her own body was experienced as a receptacle for the saint's grace and an artifact of the Presence of God. "Could a life of yogic practice help me to abide more constantly at the shrine of my own heart?" she asked herself upon returning home. "Do the forms of yoga practice contain the necessary building blocks to construct a life that is a sanctuary, and a body that is a temple?" This book answers those questions.
Students of yoga will appreciate that this metaphor embodies high ideals. The author argues that aiming toward this higher sphere elevates one's life, "unsticking" us from habitual, ordinary mind. Instead of simply performing the yogic postures (asanas) physically, she explains how to use exercise as prayer, affirmation, and an expression of Remembrance.
My Body Is a Temple will encourage readers to listen to and honor the body; to enter more fully into their lives as they are, here and now; to see that each moment contains a Divine blueprint for success; and to reclaim the bricks, mortar, raw materials and energy, always already present, to build a great temple that provides refuge and sanctuary for thenselves, and inspiration for others.
While the author's tradition is that of Anusara Yoga, the book is written for any hatha yoga aspirant or practitioner. It stands for traditional practices and ideals, without being rigid. My Body Is a Temple is a vital and realistic treatment about the process of human change and transformation.
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2011
11 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 28, 2019
Great book outlining the limbs of yoga and making it understandable in modern day. It has inspired me to be better and more disciplined in my way of living to become more whole.
February 14, 2013
I enjoyed it overall, but went it lacking something at times for me. It started strongly but I felt less enchanted toward the end.
I suppose it is a two part problem. Some of the stories shared about a key guru sounded less inspiring and spiritual to me than problematic and disturbing. The second part is one I find in a lot of spiritual works a lack of discussion of spiritually as more than self help but also as something involved in helping others. There is discussion of service toward the end but the example given aren't of helping others but of a guru having his followers building a temple to him including a larger than life statue of him. I think service would resonate more if it was talked about and shown through examples of actually helping others. Perhaps that is just my insane .02
Still I'd technically give this like 3 1/2 stars, especially for the first part.
I suppose it is a two part problem. Some of the stories shared about a key guru sounded less inspiring and spiritual to me than problematic and disturbing. The second part is one I find in a lot of spiritual works a lack of discussion of spiritually as more than self help but also as something involved in helping others. There is discussion of service toward the end but the example given aren't of helping others but of a guru having his followers building a temple to him including a larger than life statue of him. I think service would resonate more if it was talked about and shown through examples of actually helping others. Perhaps that is just my insane .02
Still I'd technically give this like 3 1/2 stars, especially for the first part.
Want to read
July 6, 2012This is a fantastic book! In light of trying to process all the wonderful information that Christina Sell has to offer, I found a wonderful quote to help me return to the point. "The mark of an advanced yogi is not that he can wrap his leg around his head. It's that he treats his body as the valuable temple that houses his mind and spirit."~ Joslyn Hamilton
October 14, 2011
So little to say and to take nearly 200 pages to not say much. the concept for this book has so much potential but she doesn't develop any thought worth considering.
July 16, 2012
Read it for my yoga book club. Didn't quite get into it, but this is the type of book that requires an appropriate frame of mind.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews